Joy

When you think about joy, you think about moments in life that are pleasurable and satisfying. Things that come to mind are parties, gifts, weddings, promotions, friendships, family and love. Joy is a foreign concept in times of suffering and pain. In times of strife we subconsciously go into survival mode, our minds drown with thoughts of worry, confusion, frustration, doubt, anger and fear. These thoughts are innately self-centered and these feelings come from bearing burdens alone. This self-reliance in times of trouble exposes the absence of joy in our lives. Joy is a choice. It is a choice to trust in God in times of happiness and in times of sorrow. Joy is not dictated by circumstance, it is the proof of total dependence on God.


“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance”. James 1:2 – 3 (NIV)


Having trust in God brings you complete joy, but could you be joyful if you lost your job? Could you be joyful if your home was destroyed by a hurricane? Could you be joyful if you were imprisoned for doing the right thing? Paul and Silas did. During their travels, Paul and Silas met a demon-possessed slave girl who was a fortune teller. Being agitated Paul commanded the demon to leave her and she was healed. She lost her powers of fortune telling and because of the greed of her masters no longer able to make a profit from her, they had Paul and Silas beaten and thrown in jail. Rather than blaming God for their misfortune, despite the fact they were doing His work, they chose joy. They were not worried about how they would be released or that their work was being halted, they totally surrendered to God’s all-knowing power. And because of such assurance they sang hymns of praise to Him.


The thing about joy, it is not only for the sufferer, it is for the on-lookers. While Paul and Silas were singing other prisoners were listening and were touched. When you have joy the blessings will follow. God delights in our optimistic attitudes that display complete submission to His sovereignty. Joy is complete loyalty to God. It says “Come what may, I choose not to succumb to my emotions, but to submit to God’s will”.


To being wise,



Meredith, Jennifer and Marisa

Love

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.” 1 Corinthians 13:4 – 8 (ESV)


God is love. Let’s liken our hearts to a bank and God to the currency. To have anything in the bank you have to make a deposit. But if you have no income, you cannot make a withdrawal. In this case our income is the word of God and our daily experiences with Him. When that income is constant we have an abundance of resources.


How do we get that consistent flow of income?


A great example of someone exhibiting love in the Bible is David. David loved the Lord and he is described as a man after God’s own heart. David’s love for God was evident in his private talks with God, in his allegiance to God, in his desire to please God and in his testimonies. David had a lot of time on his hands as a shepherd and he chose to spend that time talking privately to God. You don’t have a private talk with just anyone; you talk privately with your closest friends and family. That is who God was to David, a close friend and a family member. As a shepherd David understood the role of leader and follower. He watched his sheep every day and saw their utter dependence on him. In the same manner David understood that God was his leader and creator and he followed as His creation. He understood that his intelligence was that of the sheep in comparison to the omniscience of God. He knew his place and surrendered to it. David’s testimony was concrete evidence that God was a living presence in his life. The book of Psalms is like David’s diary cataloguing one-on-one experiences that revealed God’s character and love towards him. These records built his faith and allowed him to be fearless. He was never bolder than when he told King Saul that he would fight Goliath when thousands of men before him feared to do so. When asked how he could do this, David spoke of how God used him to overcome difficulties in the past and knew that God would not forsake him in this. Because David had spent time with God, witnessed God in His fullness and knew his place with God his desire for God was nurtured. Through this passion and desire to please God, David was able to testify of God’s faithfulness, power and love. David was motivated by his desire to please God, God was his target. When you desire something it becomes your target to which all aspects of your life become focused to. That is why during the lowest point of David’s life, when he was sought a counterfeit love from Bathsheba, Nathan brought him back into focus and reminded him of his first love, God.


Regardless of the condition your life is in right now, God wants to abide with you. David is such a great illustration for us because we don’t have to be perfect to have an intimate relationship with God. Here are some things that we can take from David’s story:

1) Your time is coveted. The devil tries to make you so busy that God gets the leftovers. We must make God our target.

2) Know your place. You did not create heaven and earth in seven days, God did. Be the follower, let God lead.

3) Let Him in. In this day and age God is not popular. We know that God is knocking at our hearts, but we treat him like a door-to-door salesman. Open the door and make it your mission to know Him and watch your desire grow.

4) Be about it. Once you know Him you will be on fire to want to talk about Him. His light will shine so bright within you that people won’t help but see it.



To being wise,


Meredith, Jennifer and Marisa

Response to "Bringing Back the Nones" article - The Visitor, Volume 118, Issue 8

Dear editor,

We appreciate the work that this publication is accomplishing and respect the articles that are featured. However, we took exception to the article by Loren Seibold titled "Bringing Back the Nones". We are three young women who are in the age range as your so-called "Nones". We acknowledge the issues presented in the article, they are very real, our generation has disappeared from the church. But we are not the only ones; other generations are also finding the church to be less and less relevant to our lives. The issues that we deal with as young people are seldom discussed in church. We are left to navigate these issues on our own. The author of this article asked if the church was the problem and failed to answer his own question. His title, however, was very revealing. The key source of our disappearance is rooted in the distrust that is heavily implied by the label given to us. Perhaps we are the "Nones" because that is how our generation is viewed, as worthless and useless. The older generations' perception of us, as the author eloquently stated, is 90% of reality. The reality is the mistrust between the generations has caused the "Nones" to have no influence, no role, no power, no leadership and nothing of value to add to the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The fact that we question tradition is easily misconstrued as a lack of spirituality. Our desire to share the gospel in innovative ways is seen as too risky and rebellious. We are not trying to change the rules for our convenience we are seeking to make the rules relevant and applicable to our lives. The truth for us does not change, however, the packaging needs to be updated. As soon as we attempt to do this we are shunned and advised to review the fundamentals. We have left the church because we have spoken and you have not heard. We feel irrelevant and unneeded. It is interesting that of all the labels to assign to us, the "Nones" was chosen. We elect to call ourselves the "Navigators" because we have been neglected and tossed out into a sea of unanswered questions and doubt to fend for ourselves. Contrary to popular belief, we take responsibility for our own spirituality, our disappearance from the church is not because we do not believe, it is because our platform has yet to be bestowed upon us. As the "Navigators" the three of us started a blog to record our spiritual walk in the hopes of helping other "Navigators" and to find our place in the church. If you want us to come back to the church, send our children to SDA schools and take an active part, then make room for us and pass the baton.


Read the original article here:


http://issuu.com/columbiaunion/docs/august2013visitor/11?e=2183245/4231577

Are You A Team Player?

In our last post we talked about winning the spiritual match that is being played between God and Satan. The only way to win is with God, the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ, we like to think of them as our Dream Team.


When you are part of a team much more is happening off of the court than on the court. The preparation that occurs before is more significant than any one game that is played. Fitness, nutrition, strategy, training, image control and team camaraderie are all important aspects that must be honed off of the court. A high performance record illustrates the mastery of such components. All of this work is required to make a great team, but we aren’t talking about being on a great team, we are talking about being on the Dream Team. The Dream Team is being more than conquerors and doing the impossible. There is only one team that we know of that is unbeatable and matchless and that is the Dream Team; God, the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ.


As perfect as the Dream Team is, claiming them as a fan will not bring success. You must be on the team to win the game. That requires dedication, commitment and a willingness to learn and serve. We know that practice makes perfect and if you fail to plan you plan to fail. When you say you are a Christian yet you make choices and live a lifestyle that is contrary to what the Dream Team stands for you distort their spotless record. You would not do or say anything that would bring shame to your favorite sports team, nor should you do or say anything that would bring shame to the Dream Team.


The Bible has already informed us of what identifies us as members of the Dream Team: the fruits of the Spirit which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These attributes are gained when an individual receives a daily outpouring of the Holy Spirit as well as actively pursuing an intimate relationship with God.



“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” John 15:7 (ESV)



In our next 9 posts we will explore practical ways to seek God and sustain a healthy relationship with Him.


To being wise,


Meredith, Jennifer and Marisa